Today, a jury at the Manhattan Federal Court in New York City ruled in favor of E. Jean Carroll in her defamation lawsuit against former President Donald Trump. In the ruling, they determined that Trump owed $83.3 million in damages for statements he made after she accused him of sexual assault in a 2019 story for New York Magazine.
It was one of two defamation suits Carroll filed (just last year, Carroll also won a civil suit against Trump, in which that jury found Trump liable for the sexual abuse of Carroll in the mid-1990s and for defamation against her) citing comments that Trump made between 2019 and 2022 which she says negatively impacted her reputation and opened her up to a slew of verbal abuse, including threats to her safety. Trump’s statements included comments that she was a “whack job” and that her claims were “absolutely ridiculous.” Carroll argues that, in addition to putting her life at risk, the statements destroyed her prolific career as a writer for outlets such ELLE, Esquire, and Outsider.
